Getting Hitched
by SharaMoon
Summary: Sookie is an intern at Trestler & Co., working under a seemingly mean and snarky man named Eric that she slaves over to get a permanent job within the company. But what happens when he drags her into a proposal to avoid getting deported? AH/OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** Hello possible readers!

Okay, this idea just came to me out of nowhere, but I really like the concept of it. It was inspired by the movie The Proposal, which is one of the most hilarious and cute romantic movies I have seen to date. It will be slightly different, because I don't want to just copy off the movie because that would be horrible.

**Information:** I have no background in anything business, so I just guessed as I wrote the first chapter. It won't be centered on the business aspect of the story, so I wasn't quite worried about it. If there are any mistakes, which I know there are, please ignore them and just go with the flow. ;)

**Just so you know:** This probably isn't going to be a very long story at all. I thought of the idea and just went with it. This is also my go-to story as of right now, meaning that if I am stuck on one of my other stories this is the story I shall update. I don't know how often I will update, but if I get a good amount of readers, then I will be writing more quickly. I have a ton of stories right now that I am working on, so be patient as best you can with me.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch; not the SVM/TB characters or anything to do with the movie The Proposal. I am just using tid-bits of each, creating my own plot around the ideas that inspired me.

All mistakes are my own. I do not have a beta. So, do expect mistakes…I am only human…that should definitely look over her own work better. *Sigh* Maybe one day…lol.

So, I hope you enjoy it!

XOXO—SharaMoon

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong>

_Sookie Stackhouse is an intern at Trestler & Co., working under a very mean and snarky man named Eric Northman that she does every little thing for to get a good permanent job within the company. But what happens when her boss intentionally drags her into his problems by a way of proposing to keep himself from deportation? _

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><p><strong>Chapter One-Monday sucks<strong>

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><p>The blaring alarm clock woke me from my good slumber that I was happily enjoying. I groaned; rolling over. I peeked my left eye open to see the clock; six-forty-five in the morning, my usual time to wake up. I sighed, stretching my arms and legs wide, hearing a bone or two pop and that just proved that I wasn't raring to go. Regardless, I let my feet hit the floor and shuffled over to the bathroom, as I did so I checked my voicemails from yesterday on my home phone<p>

"Honey, its Gran, call me back when you get a moment. I've been missing you lately and I'm so glad that you are coming home in just a few days! Can't wait to see you, dear!"

The message clicked off and went into the next.

"Sookie, John said he needs the graphs by tomorrow morning, and blah, blah, blah." I giggled at Amelia's deadpanned tone. "Anyway, we are still on for lunch too tomorrow and this time you cannot cancel on me!"

Oh, only if she knew how much I truly needed a friend's lunch instead of sitting at my little cubical and waiting hand and foot to my boss's every command. Yes, today was definitely my day…it had to be.

I had just finished college about a year ago and I had worked my way up to getting an internship to one of the biggest companies New York City had ever seen. I was ecstatic when I opened my letter to see that I was accepted. If I played my cards right-and hopefully that would work-I would be getting a full time job there in less than six months. I was so proud of myself. I had actually done it when people didn't believe that a backwaters girl –like myself- could actually get a good job, instead of just working at the one bar in my hometown for the rest of my days.

The machine clicked over once more and I dreaded the voice that came out of the little speaker.

"I really hate calling you on your home phone. You need a cellphone." The voice grounded out. "I need you to fax the numbers to Kenneth right when you get in the office tomorrow. I do not mean ten hours later, I mean; _Right. When. You. Get. There._"

Ah, my boss-the one I slave over. I do every little thing that he wants and needs and it gets rather annoying because half of the stuff I do, isn't even in the job description, but if I wanted to go places in this company then he was the one to work under. So, I would slave to his every need and do as he always says, even though he gives me a throbbing headache in the process. Half of the time, I just want to bang my head off of my keyboard and semi-hope that a bus runs me over as I go to work, but…that never happens. I always show up, on time and somehow I still do wrong.

Not today though. Today was a new day. Monday….

"God, I hate Mondays." I groaned, putting shampoo in my hair before rinsing.

Okay, so maybe today wasn't my day and that was clear since I walked out of my apartment building only to see that it was raining and I forgot my damn umbrella. Great, awesome…_fabulous_. Well, it wasn't like I had time to go back and get it so I just continued down the road, flagging over a taxi in the process.

It was quite hard to maneuver the graphs and papers in my hands, juggling them as I tried to fit into the small vehicle, but again, I managed and the car began to move at an incredibly slow pace.

"Where you headed?" The taxi driver called over his shoulder.

"Trestler & Co." I told him. "But first I need to stop at the coffee shop just around the corner, if that is alright."

"It's your money, lady." He snorted, pulling over to the side by the coffee place.

Yeah, I always love comebacks like that too. I rolled my eyes. "Don't go anywhere, please. I really have to make it to work on time today."

"Sure." He nodded.

But of course, there was a line in the shop. Quite a long line by the looks of it and I really didn't have time to just stand here and wait. _Oh, my boss is going to kill me!_ I thought desperately, hoping that they opened the other line. Never happened though and I waited a good fifteen minutes before I was able to order.

After that, I flew out of there, nearly breaking my neck as I did so, but did that matter? No, I needed to get to work or my boss was going to have my head! Jumping into the car, I hit the back of the seat telling the driver to move it or lose it. He didn't like that very much, but complied which I was thankful for.

I made it, just in time to get ready, but what sucked was when I was in the elevator a lady that worked on the second floor bumped into me, effectively spilling my coffee down my blouse. Dear God in heaven, _not today_! I might have third degree burns-wasn't quite sure since I didn't check it-but I stumbled from the elevator only to bump into Amelia who stood on the other side. She caught the graphs easily, before she steadied me on my feet.

"Hold your horses, Blondie." Amelia laughed. She was my most dear friend here in New York, the nearly only one that I had made since I moved here.

I tried to smile, but it just wouldn't surface. "Can't. Gotta fax the papers to Kenneth."

"Who's Kenneth?" She followed me as I walked through the cubicles to the fax machine.

"I have no fucking idea." I said in horror as I stood over the machine, totally forgetting the number that I needed to fax it to. "Please tell me it's on the paper. I should have written it down last night." I scrambled my hands, finding said paper and thankfully, the number was written there in black ink. I smiled, putting in the information and starting the machine up.

"Hard morning, I guess?" Amelia grinned as I shot her a narrowed eyed glance. She pointed at my shirt, which had the biggest coffee stain that ever was, all down my white blouse.

"Give me your shirt." I begged, pushing my hands into hers. "You are seriously my only hope of not getting chewed out that I don't look presentable."

"I have a spare, don't worry." She promised, heading to her own cubicle that was located halfway across the floor from mine.

I followed close behind and grabbed the shirt that she had extended in her hand after pulling it out of her drawer. I had no idea why she had a spare, but I was not even going to ask because I was grateful for it.

I didn't have time to go change, so I just threw it over my soiled shirt and promised myself that I would change later. Carefully I stepped back over to my own cubicle, starting the computer up and waited for the doom. It happened about ten minutes later, the elevator dinged and I opened instant messaging to Amelia.

'_The Devil has entered the building_.' I wrote quickly and I could have sworn I heard a giggle from the other side of the room. I shook my head, taking a deep breath and letting it out. Forcing on a fake smile, I stood and grabbed the coffee, heading over to him.

He was a tall man, very handsome if I wanted to say something about looks, but he had the worst attitude that you could possibly imagine that totally turned his sexiness into ugliness. His blond hair was slicked back, his suit was freshly dry cleaned-thanks to me of course-and he had a Bluetooth headset on, but of course I didn't realize that at first.

"Good morning." He said brightly.

"Good morning to you too, Eric." I smiled and he shot me a confused look.

"Yes, those come with the deal, sir. The stocks for that are in the high right now, yes…" He continued his obvious conversation as he moved passed me, grabbing the coffee from my stunned hands.

He wasn't talking to me and I should have realized that. I picked myself up mentally, embarrassed beyond belief as I shuffled behind him quietly. I was a walking shame machine at the moment, with hurt pride and all, but again, I smiled as if nothing ever happened.

"Sookie, why is my coffee so sweet as if there are a million sugar packets in it?" Eric asked as he stepped into his office, putting the cup down on the desk with a look of distaste etched into his features.

Great. I didn't spill my _own_ coffee, I spilled _Eric's._ Not good.

"Sorry, sir, when I came in today, Mrs. Jeffery bumped into me and I spilled the coffee. I'm sorry. I know you don't like it sugar in yours."

"It's fine." He told me, but it sure as hell didn't sound _fine _in the least.

"Is there anything else you need from me at the moment, sir?" I asked lightly, pushing his papers on the desk for him to look over.

"That will be all for now, Sookie." Eric said, not meeting my gaze as he began to type on the computer, totally forgetting about the coffee.

I mentally sighed heavily before I turned on my heel and began to walk out. Just then a lady peeked her head in the door and looked at Eric.

"Sir, Mr. Trestler wants to see you in his office."

I blinked, turning slightly to look at Eric who seemed shocked by this. I wondered what was going on, but I really didn't give a crap regardless and went back to my post. My phone was ringing already and it was just the beginning of the morning. My feet and hands hurt already.

I watched as Eric made his way up to the elevator before I turned to the side, hanging up the phone to talk to Amelia. She had a smirk on her face.

"Wonder what that is all about, huh?" She nodded to the closed elevator.

"Sure do." I nodded in agreement.

"Maybe he is in trouble, do you think?"

"Eric?" I laughed. "Everyone thinks he is so perfect at his job, little do they know that I do most of it."

"Well, whatever it is, he still seemed surprised by it."

"You snoop too much into other people's business." I shook my head, rolling my eyes at her.

She changed the subject to something more light after sticking her tongue out at me. "You're headed home, right? In just a few days?" Amelia asked, perching herself up top my desk as she leaned over and began to pull my sticky notes apart.

I grabbed them. "I hate when you do that." I sighed, placing them in the right position again. "And yes, I'm very excited. It's my first time off in quite a while."

"You never take off." She argued.

"If I did, the devil would probably have a hissy fit, but this is my week. I have made it clear to myself that I would not let anything get me down." I said, puffing my chest out slightly, nodding to myself.

"…And how's that going for you?"

My chest deflated and I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "Not well, Amelia…not well."

"Thought so."

Just then my phone started to ring once more and I picked it up, shushing Amelia before she could begin to talk. "Trestler & Co. Sookie speaking, how may I help you?"

"This is Terry from the thirteenth floor. Eric was to have a meeting with us on the design project."

"Oh…" _Crap. _I finished in my head. I forgot about the meeting. "Yes, I will go talk to him right now, sir. He should be up in just a bit. It doesn't start for another hour, correct?"

"Yes, but we were to speak beforehand." Terry mumbled.

"Yes, I understand." I hung up the phone and slapped my own forehead. "Forgot about that damn meeting! Why is this week being the total opposite of what I had planned?"

"Maybe you are just an unlucky person, Sook." Amelia said, hopping off of the desk.

"I have to be cursed." I sighed, getting up quickly. "I have to go talk to him, explain that I had forgotten."

And that is what I did. I went to the top floor and made my way down the halls, being pointed out where Eric was having a talk with the president of the company. I scurried to the door, catching something that probably was not intended for me to hear.

"Your work visa has expired, Eric. You need to be heading back to Sweden. We are very sorry and will be sad to see you go."

"Sir, I am quite sure there is another way to go about this." Eric argued hotly.

My mouth fell open, my jaw hit the floor. Was it possible that Eric would be heading back to his own country? Maybe my week had just gotten a little brighter! I smirked as I opened the door, acting stupid as if I didn't hear anything. All the heads of the higher ups turned to look at me; some smiled and nodded while others just sat there.

"I'm sorry for the interruption, but Terry needs to see Eric about the meeting they are scheduled for today." I spoke gently, smiling at Eric who looked upset.

But his upset gaze turned into something else, something I couldn't quite understand as a smile played across his lips. "Sookie, can you come in here please?"

"Uh, alright?" I stepped carefully over the threshold, walking awkwardly to Eric who held out his arm. What was weirder was the fact that he wrapped his arm around my waist, my eyes widened as I looked up at him, wondering just what the hell he was doing.

"Gentlemen, I believe I can stay here and work for you, continuing on doing as I was before."

"How so, Eric? I mean that would be wonderful, but we already explained to you that your visa has expired."

"I am quite aware of that fact, but I won't be needing a visa any longer since I am getting married."

"Oh?" The president of the company said in shock.

"Yes, we wanted to keep it a secret," Eric looked down at me, a very weird smile playing on his lips. My eyes twitched as his gaze burned into mine. I knew what he was saying now and I knew he wanted me to play along. "Since we are working together, we thought that might be a problem if we were to tell others, but I think now is a good time than ever to finally tell the world. Right, Sookie?"

I gulped. "Uh…yes?" I mean, come on, what could I have said? No, he is a crazy lunatic? Yeah, I guess I could have and should have said that.

Eric's smirk only widened. "We are madly in love, Sookie and I." He announced.

"Really?" The president of the company turned to stare at me.

I felt a pinch on my right side and I held in the urge to punch Eric in his grinning mouth. "Uh-huh." I murmured, not a very defined answer. It was in between a yes and a what-the-fuck-am-I-getting-myself-into.

"Well, that is wonderful news then! But of course, you would need to have a wedding, get it verified."

"Yes, we planned on having a spring wedding, but with the visa problem, we cannot wait that long. I realize that now."

"Disregard anything I have said then!" The president laughed, waving his hands in front of him. "Congratulations, the both of you!"

"Thank you, sir." Eric smiled.

"Yeah…thanks." I grumbled as we turned to leave.

So, I may have tricked myself into believing that I would have a good week when I knew it wouldn't have been good at all, but I never thought it would be this bad. I walked numbly, not blinking once as we got on the elevator.

"What the hell was that?" I shouted, heading toward hysteria.

"Language, Sookie." Eric said lightly. "I thought it was rather obvious what I was doing."

"Only you could be so calm after what you did!" I growled, holding in the urge to just kick him in his balls now. "And how is it obvious? I clearly still don't know what is going on."

"I am calm, because if I act like there is something wrong-like you are doing-then people will start to suspect what is happening."

"And what is happening?"

"You clearly are a blond, then." Eric leaned against the elevator, pressing the button to head down. "I just used you for my own person gain. I need a way to stay in the country and you were my ticket."

"They will never believe this!" I shook my head fast.

"The president did, but he is not very smart. No, I am sure we will have to go through a bunch of test by an ISN agent to check to see if we are getting married out of love or just to keep me in the United States. Therefore, I need you to play along better than you did upstairs."

"Why the hell should I do this for you?" I huffed, narrowing my gaze on him.

"One simple thing," He smirked, finally meeting my deadly gaze. He was completely unfazed. I'm not that intimidating regardless. "I will help you get a permanent job here in the company."

"I am getting that within six months." I told him harshly.

"Yeah, but do you really want to wait that long? Besides, I can also give you a promotion. You are a hard worker after all. It wouldn't be that hard."

Damn him, damn him all to hell and back. I needed more money. This internship paid, but not nearly enough for me to keep living the way I did. A one bedroom apartment in New York City was very costly and I simply needed this job more than I could ever say.

I had a moment where I saw my life flash before my eyes, as if I was headed down a road that would likely get me killed, which I totally haven't ruled out. I heard that the INS are pretty good at figuring out fraud and therefore, if this ended badly, I could be looking at jail time…a lot of jail time and quite honestly, I didn't want to sit my ass in the big house anytime soon.

"I swear to God, this ends badly and I will kill you myself." I promised.

Eric laughed as the elevator doors opened. He spoke loud enough for everyone on that floor to hear. "I love you too, honey!"

I shuttered. What did I just get myself into?

Well, I just said yes to the worst proposal in the history of the world to my boss. Why did it feel like I just sold my soul? Oh, yeah, that's right…because I basically did, to the Devil himself in human form.

"Getting hitched to my devil boss…" I spoke to myself. "I think it's pretty safe to say that Monday officially sucks the big one."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:** Hi again!

WOW! It was nice getting on my email today and seeing that I had over 100 alerts from Fanfic, just for this one story alone! Thank you everyone!

Yes, I will be replying to each of you. I just didn't on the first chapter because I was very busy…didn't have time to, but with this chapter I will!

I'm glad you all like the idea of this story so far and I hope you stick with me through the whole thing! Speaking of; I need to sit down and watch The Proposal again…it's been quite a while!

Okay, so, let's get to the reading…shall we? :)

I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch!

XOXO—SharaMoon

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><p><strong>Chapter Two - All is fair in love and war<strong>

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><p>I sat in horror at my little cubicle. I was so sure that the walls were either closing in or caving in on me. I wasn't too sure which; it hadn't decided which way to go. My life was ending, plain and simple. How was this happening? Why did I agree to do it in the first place anyway? There were so many questions running through my mind and I simply couldn't sort out all of them in my tiny and complicated brain. To put it mildly simple: I couldn't function correctly-and to give you an example of that: I was sure as hell <em>positive<em> that my left eye would not stop twitching…_ever._

It's only been one day since he 'proposed'. How many more days would there be, that I would have to deal with him? Well, it was marriage…I really hope he doesn't think that I would stay attached to him forever, right? _Please tell me I'm right!_

And, _oh my God_! What is my family going to think? I haven't even thought about telling them! I couldn't just come home and be like, 'Hi everyone, guess what? I'm getting married to the dickhead that I have told you all about! Crazy? _I know_!' That did not seem possible, but I had to tell them regardless because they needed to know, just in case the ISN people decided to contact them. I had to make up a lie about something. Maybe I could still get away with the whole boy-acts-mean-to-a- girl-because-he-likes-her thing? 'He punched me in the face, so he must love me!' That just sounded retarded, but really, what else did I have in mind to even be a better reason why I would actually marry a man that I talked-rather meanly-about on several occasions? Nothing…at all. Damn my nonfunctional brain!

No, damn _him_! Damn Eric Northman! I hated the guy before, hated him beyond belief, but now I just loathed him to his core and I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. He thought nothing of me. I was probably scum between his toes for all he cared. He was using me…and I was allowing it. I. Am. An. Idiot.

But there were perks. I would be getting a permanent job at the company and he was going to throw a bonus on top of that: promotion. Getting my own office, bigger than my cubicle and a secretary that could do all of _my_ bidding. Oh yeah; the whole nine-yards, having the cake and eating it too. Really, that was all the sayings that I knew that would fit in this equation.

Still, the whole thing seemed…insufferable. I would have to marry Eric Northman…my asshole boss. _Sookie Northman_…yeah, I would be keeping my own last name; that just sounded too weird when I thought about it. I felt like a martyr-which with my bias attitude-I was certainly one of those. I have gone through so much pain, agony and dealing with him being an ass for five months already. I was the second longest person that had stayed with him. Only one person had gone on to bigger and better things in this company that was his intern before, but I was pretty sure she had sex with him to do that…not that I would know that of course…just a thought…maybe a judgment and totally out of character of me, since I try to be a Christian. That was not happening as well as I had hoped.

"Oh, _lover_…?" His voice vibrated in my ears, his sarcastic tone making me want to strangle myself to death. Was that even possible? Well, if he kept it up with the pet names, I would sure as hell find out if it was.

"Yes, you big…big…ugh, _you_." I had no idea where I was going with that, but glad that I didn't say something that he could possibly use against me to just mock my every statement, like he does…always.

"We have a meeting today." He spoke calmly, turning my chair around to get me to look at him.

I stared daggers in his direction, only to see a very well fake smile on his part as he looked down upon me. "What meeting?" I asked.

"ISN." He shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard, we can talk in the car."

"I don't have a car." I grumbled, shaking my head.

"I know. That's why we will be taking mine." He sighed dramatically, looking over his shoulder. He must have spotted someone coming because he leaned closer in, practically on my lap as he bent over and got in my face. He smiled, daring me to say something and I was about to before the person stopped.

"Awe, isn't that sweet!" An older lady smiled. I faintly recognized her as the wife of one of the higher ups in this place. "George told me about your engagement, Eric. It's surprising that you would be a man to settle down, with how busy you have been. It is wonderful though."

"Well, Sookie and I work together so we got to know each other that way." He spoke over his shoulder, leaning in to carefully kiss my cheek. It was a weak attempt to be all cute and fuzzy, but I guess it fooled the old bat because she smiled further, clasping her hands together.

"Ah, young love. I remember those days quite well." She smiled again. "Just remember to always work with each other, get through things together and I am sure you both will be just fine."

Yeah, if only I _could_ really work things out with this guy. I would finally work all of this out when I was dead and gone from the world. I was fairly sure of that fact. "Thank you." I whispered regardless because tall shit that was leaning over me stepped on my toes.

"Have a wonderful day, you two." And she was gone.

"You are such an asshole, Eric. I swear…" I fumed, picking up my foot to check for damages. I had open-toe heel wedges on today and that move he just pulled really hurt!

"That is the beauty of this relationship." He said, moving back away from me to lean against my cabinet.

"What is?"

"That I don't care how you feel about me or anything I do." He laughed, winking as he turned and stalked away.

"You sir, are a jackass!" I mumbled loudly, turning around to pound my keyboard to death with my fingers.

Eric liked to play games, I found out. He liked to tease and I was not big on the teasing. It hit hard because I was teased as a child. I didn't have the newer clothes as the others did, I never had any up to date things the other kids were into and it was just an all-around bad and traumatizing experience as a child. So, whenever Eric teased, I got defensive…like mad woman defensive and one day…he would feel my wrath. Oh yes, he would feel my wrath.

**-break-**

"So, it's fairly simple. I'm guessing they are just going to ask a few questions and then we can be on our way." He said as he pulled over to the side of the curb. He had a nice car, a corvette. It was red and one of my favorite cars ever, but I would never give him the satisfaction of letting him in on that little secret. Well, maybe I would have to…depending on if this ISN guy wanted to talk cars. I doubted it, but to be honest, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"We met at work, fell in love," I spat the words as if they left a bitter taste in my mouth. "I don't know if I can get through this without throwing up."

"Hold your stomach." He warned. "If you want that promotion, the job early; then you need to do this, Sookie. I am _not_ getting deported back to Sweden where I would have to work my way up again."

"Maybe that's what you need." I offered. "You need a swift kick in your ego by starting over. I mean, I can get out of this car and just walk away…I am fairly certain that I can find another job quickly."

"No, you really can't." He laughed. "The economy sucks at the moment, most of it anyway and it would be a lot harder finding a job when your only background is an internship-that would say you had quit on it-and a job at a hometown bar and grill when you were seventeen."

"You read my files…all of them?" I asked, quite shocked. "Wow, Eric, I am _surprised_! You actually did something!"

"Funny," He narrowed his gaze. "I had to, since you are working for me."

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" I got out of the car, waiting for him. As I did so, I mentally prepared myself for the more cluster fuck that would invade my mind after this encounter. So much I had to remember, but this was just the first meeting. I was sure there would at least one more.

Eric came around, putting his arm around my waist and linking his hand in mine. It was his way of showing affection, but it was very awkward in more than one way. He was a tall man, so it made me look bent over as I walked, but I smiled and kept moving. We finally reached the room where we would be evaluated and I smiled again at the man who sat down at the other side of the desk.

"Good afternoon. I'm Mr. Cataliades." He smiled, grabbing a file from the table and getting right to business. "It seems that you were to be deported back to Sweden because your work visa had expired, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is correct. I had forgotten all about it to be quite truthful. I had been busy, a working man like yourself would know as such." Eric chuckled, totally at ease. Me on the other hand, I was sweating bullets. "Plus, I have this beautiful woman to keep me company through that time, so my mind was completely fogged over and I did not remember the date that it would expire."

"Hmm." He said, looking at me now. _Shit._ "It said you had started working at Trestler and Co. five months ago, correct?"

"Yes, sir." It took everything in me not to stutter.

"And when do you say that the romance started?" He asked. "When did you two get together?"

I worked on the fly, spitting out the first thing that came to mind. "Two months ago, he proposed three weeks ago."

"I see," Mr. C-as I would be calling him-looked down at my hands. "But you have no engagement ring?"

I gulped hard, looking at Eric to take over. He was quick, I'll give him that. "In my family it isn't traditional to get a ring right away. It's weird, but something that we do. It's…bad luck, so to speak. We give them their rings on the day of our wedding."

"Speaking of wedding, when do you plan on tying the knot?" The man questioned further, one question right after another and his intense gaze made me believe that he could see right through me. I was utterly exposed to this man, which was more frightening than the idea of actually being married to Eric.

"Well, we are planning on doing it in a few days actually." Eric spoke gently, squeezing my hand.

"In Louisiana." I blurted out, hating myself that I took that moment to assert my own thoughts. I had to go home first. I had to tell my family what was going on or some of what was going on anyway.

"Louisiana?" Eric whispered, covering it up by leaning over to kiss my cheek with a smile on his face. I could hear his teeth grinding against one another as he bit out the word.

"Yes, darling…my family wants to be a part of the wedding. I simply could not just go to the Justice of the Peace. We had planned a _spring wedding_, remember? I still want a small gathering of family." Put that in your pipe, Eric Northman, and smoke it!

"You had planned on a spring wedding?" The man spoke.

"Yeah, but with the visa ending we thought it would be best to just get it _done and over with_." Eric said, glaring at me now.

"Pish-posh!" I waved my hands, smiling coyly now. "If you want to put the ring on my finger, my family has to be involved, Eric, honey…_dearest._"

I could literally feel his hatred boiling off of him. I was very surprised that my skin wasn't melting away. Finally, after a moment of silence he smiled deadly at me, like the kind that you might see on a serial killers face right before they hacked you to pieces. That was quite a lovely image to put in my own brain. _Thank you, Sookie!_ I sighed mentally.

He spoke gently, "_Of course_, my love."

"Okay, so a wedding in Louisiana? When will that be? Just so I know for sure."

"By this weekend." I clarified. "I was thinking Sunday, since we are-you know- leaving tomorrow." I shot a glance at Eric before smiling at the man. "Isn't he just sweet? I can make him do anything, huh?" I laughed, pretty loudly for a small space before turning back to Eric. "Would you be a doll and get us tickets for a plane, dearest?"

"Yeah…" Eric trailed off.

"Well, it is perfectly fine to have the wedding in Louisiana," Mr. C said, trying to get back on subject. "But when you get back we need to have another meeting. Most people that get married are just in it for a free citizenship into the United States and though I would hate to make you think this," And he didn't sound all regretful with that statement. "With your visa ended and with you 'suddenly'-and I use that term loosely because you have been together for a few months- plan on getting married, it just seems…fishy; if you understand. Most get their citizenship and then divorce a year later."

"Well that is clearly not us." Eric lied through his teeth. I could practically smell the stench of a liar flowing off of him, but Mr. C wasn't fazed…not that I could see. "What would we have to look forward to in this other meeting?"

"Well, it's simple. We ask you a bunch of questions on things that you would know of your significant other and if it matches to what they say after the test is done, then this case will be cleared and you will have your citizenship."

"Doesn't sound too bad." Eric smiled with ease, "Since I already know everything about her."

"Oh yes, he _really _does." I said sarcastically to myself, thankfully no one picked that up and just chose to ignore that I had ever talked. _Men…I tell ya_.

"So I will see you back in this office…?" The man trailed off.

"Next Wednesday, at the latest. I had promised my family I would stay at least a week." I told them both.

"Then I will see you both at that time." Mr. C nodded and showed us the way to the door, as if we didn't know where it was.

"Could you have been any more tense back there?" Eric groaned as he drove.

"Oh, my bad; _so-o-o-rry_!" I dragged out the word. "He was intimidating. This whole scheme you have cooked up is intimidating and could surely land me in a jail cell if it goes wrong." I huffed a sigh, leaning back into the leather seat with my arms folded over my chest.

"It won't come to that. Just keep your cool and we will get through it and by the way, Sookie, I hate you."

"That is something we have in common! Look, see? We're bonding already!" I told him overdramatically.

"No, I hate you because I had no intentions of going to a backwater town in Louisiana this week." He nearly growled.

"All is fair in love and war." I quoted.

"Funny choice of words." He scowled.

"I thought they fit perfectly with our wacky situation." I rolled my eyes. "Just take me home and make up an excuse as to why I am not at work the rest of the day."

"And why the hell would I do that?" He raised an eyebrow, highly annoyed at me.

"Because you owe me your soul!" I laughed. "Seriously, you do own me more than just a promotion and an easier route to getting my job. I could go to jail if this doesn't work. Fraud is a hefty thing here in the United States of America."

Eric was quiet for quite some time before he sighed. "Fine." He grumbled.

I pointed him in the direction toward my apartment. It wasn't fancy in the slightest and was not a very nice neighborhood at all. Eric raised an eyebrow as he pulled over to the curb, but didn't say anything. He was looking at the two little kids throwing a baseball back and forth and I watched him cringe as the ball came close to his fancy ass car. Not that I could really blame him…it was such a beautiful car, regardless of the bastard that owned it.

"And I better get paid for a full day too." I said as I got out of the car, feeling a somewhat vindictive pleasure of putting him on the spot with something. All in all, I feel like I won a battle of wits today. "Remember to pack your boots and other southern items."

"What if I don't have anything like that?" He looked over at me, leaning slightly down to get a good look at me from where he was seated. His voice had the most annoyed sound as well. It totally just made my day better.

"Then I suggest you buy some." I slammed the car door shut, imagining that I was twisting a mustache as I cackled evilly.

I reached my apartment, sighing in relief that I could just curl up on the couch and watch a movie or even read a book of mine from my shelve. I couldn't afford cable, so that was out of the equation, but all in all, I could really just relax and forget today ever happened and start to pack for my trip home. Well, that was all fine and dandy until my phone started to ring.

Sighing, I picked it up. "Hello?"

"_You never told me which town in _Bum Fucked Egypt_ to book the flight for_." Eric growled. My phone actually vibrated against my ear. I pulled it away slightly.

"Oh…? I didn't?" I raised an eyebrow. I guess I didn't. "Book a flight to Shreveport, Louisiana. We will also need to rent a car, you know?" I said back.

"_Yeah, I got it…"_

"Make sure the flight is in the morning too." I hurriedly put in. "I want you to have some quality time with my family…for as_ long_ as that is possible this week we are staying there. So, starting early tomorrow is the _best _way to go."

"…_I really fucking hate you." _His voice was small.

"Likewise, _baby_." I laughed out loud as I hung up the phone.

Yes, a movie day and maybe-if we wanted to get wild here-some of that ice cream I had left in the freezer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** Hello readers!

I am back with another chapter to 'Getting Hitched' and I hope you like it. This chapter was sort of hard to write, no idea why because it is basically so very simple, but simplicity is sometimes the hardest thing. Weird? Yes.

Okay, so…enough rambling from me. I hope you enjoy the chapter. ;)

I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch!

XOXO—SharaMoon

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><p><strong>Chapter Three - Airplane questions<strong>

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><p>"So, I'm glad you took my advice and got yourself some Timberlands'." I pointed to his boots as he put our carryon bags in the little cubby hole above the seats.<p>

"They are rather nice." He nodded. "I'm still pretty pissed off though. Why couldn't we just go to the Justice of the Peace and get it over with? I cannot believe I am actually going to visit with…your family. I wouldn't have had to buy the boots, the other supplies if we just did the easy process."

"I have to go see my family. It was the only way that I would have done this. If I would have just gotten married, those ISN people would have definitely called and asked my family about you and trust me, you wouldn't like what I may or may not have told them about you."

"Your family?" He raised an eyebrow before narrowing his eyes. "You actually talked bad about me to your family?"

"Uh-huh." It was so great being honest with him. It gave me quite a lot of satisfaction.

"You know…I am only being your boss." He said sitting down.

"In what way? You make me take your mother's phone calls, pick up your coffee in the morning, get your dry cleaning done, order and then go pick up your lunch and so much more that I could not even start to put into words." I huffed. "That is stuff that I shouldn't be doing for you."

"But…you do." He countered. "It's not like I am forcing it upon you."

"No, not at all." I said sarcastically. "If I didn't, you would probably be pissed off for the rest of the day, while working. And God forbid, we couldn't have that!"

"You seriously have problems. I am actually starting to worry about you." He snorted, shaking his head before crossing his arms. "I am your boss, Sookie. What I say goes and that is just how it is. You do those things for me because you want to get your permanent job and if you didn't, you think I would fire you on the spot-which I might have done. Every other employee of mine, everyone that was an intern under me, they all did what you were doing."

"Yeah and only one other person ever went on to a full paying job." I rolled my eyes. "The rest you pissed off too badly."

"And how would you know that?" He asked, turning to the side to look at me.

"Because I work with other people, I talk to other people in the company that have been there for years and they told me that I might have problems with you."

"They did, did they?" He smirked. "I am very hard on my interns, as you so put it, because it is good for them; ultimately good for you. I was the guy that went to get my own boss his coffee, take his personal phone calls, his dry cleaning and lunch. I did all the things you were doing. It is only natural that I should follow my mentor's footsteps and force that on you as well because in the end, you might one day get to a spot like I am at right now."

"You talk big for someone that does their job entirely wrong. You aren't supposed to make your interns do your every bidding and it definitely makes you a jackass. I am-right now-saying that your boss was an asshole and made you an even bigger asshole in the process of all of his 'good trainings' he taught you."

"Of course you would say that." He rolled his eyes this time. "It's just business, Sookie, don't take it personal."

I growled, sitting in the seat next to him. I looked over to see if anyone was paying attention before I laid everything on the table. "Look buddy, I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I am marrying your ass so you don't get kicked out of the country. I am doing it just because I like to help people, but if you say this is just business and it isn't personal, I am literally going to let them drag your ass out of the country and I will hope that it kicks you in the ass on your way out as well. _This_; what is going on is personal. It is involving more than just me now; it's bringing my family into it as well. I am already having enough trouble figuring out what I am going to say to my family when we get there, so how about you ease my pain, agony and just shut the fuck up and stop preaching to me on how to be a good boss. You, Eric Northman, are not a good boss and I probably should have quit a long time ago, but I want this job more than anything. If you keep up with your attitude, especially around my family, then there will be hell to pay."

Eric smirked. "I love when you talk dirty." He said in the most sexual and rough voice. The way he looked at me, the way he smiled, I had to gulp.

_No, stop right now Sookie Stackhouse! It's another teasing game, he loves to tease! Do not let that sexy…err…voice get to you in any way, shape or form. He is an asshole. He is ugly on the inside which travels to the outside because of it. He is totally not your type, never…._never_._

I sighed as I got over those sexy eyes that he probably laid out to quite a lot of other girls. He, Eric Northman, was also known to be a player. He dated quite a few girls and how do I possibly know that? Well, I was the one that had to take all those one-night stand phone calls when they tried to reach him at his work place, saying that they wanted to hook up again, but Eric never did. I had to send flowers to quite a few of them and it was hard enough trying to write out those little cards in and of itself. 'Last night was fun, but I don't plan on doing it again. Thanks for the fun ride.' Yeah, that is how that went and it just made me feel like an awful person because I-who didn't screw these women-had to write out the notes of apologies and thanks whenever it needed to be done.

Eric wasn't always an asshole. No, he could be fairly nice and even be tolerable to be around. In honesty, he was a good boss in the sense that he made sure that you were doing your job correctly, but what got under my skin was the fact that I had to do all of the other things for him, take personal calls, coffee, dry cleaning and get his lunch without so much as a thank you for taking the time to do it. He never once said thank you to any of that. He also was snobby most of the time, thinking just because I was his intern that I was like a push-over and I was certainly not one of those. I got his things because I am a nice person, regardless of my own snarky attitude at times and also because he _is_ my boss. I guess he thought he could walk all over me without me saying anything about it, and truthfully, I never did say anything and that probably led him to believe that he could do anything to me, like get me to marry him. It was different now though, if he was going to be a jackass the entire time then I wouldn't go through with it and he would be pushed back to Sweden where he could solve his own damn problems.

"Sookie…" Eric said, rather annoyed. I looked up at him. "You were spacing for quite some time there."

"I had a lot to think about, Eric." I growled before I sighed. Okay, so I wanted him to be nicer and I guess that meant I had to be nicer as well if we wanted this to work. "Listen, let's just get through this week, okay? I will help you, I will do this for you, but you need to stop acting like you can make me do anything that you want. I am not a push-over, you hear me? If we want this to work, to actually make it _seem_ like we want to be together then we need to be slightly nicer to one another."

"…I could manage that." He finally said. "It's great teasing you though, I don't know if I could hold my tongue all the time."

I almost smiled…almost. "I don't like to be teased, Eric."

"So you can tease, make fun of me to other people in a snarky ass way, but I can't do that to you? A teaser who doesn't like to be teased herself?" That sounded a lot more sexual than I think he planned on it.

"Exactly." I said regardless.

"You are weird, Sookie. I've never, in all my life, met a girl like you." He chuckled.

"How so?" I raised an eyebrow, giving him a curious look.

His blue eyes flashed to mine while he slicked back his hair with his other hand. "Before Monday, I was sure as hell that you were a push-over. I did believe that I could make you do anything, without you ever saying anything in return for the way I was acting, but now…I might have bit off a bit more than I can chew with you." He smirked.

"Oh?" I grinned devilishly. "Maybe we should just forget about this trip then? If I am so hard to handle?"

"Not a chance." He pinned me with a glare. "We are already on the plane, heading to your hometown and besides, I can still handle you."

"Sure you can, Eric." I snorted. "You know nothing about me."

"Correct." He agreed. "I suggest we get working on that, on this plane."

"Right now?" I groaned.

"Yep." He nodded. "We'll start easy. Uh…I like Futball."

"Me too!" I grinned. "Louisiana Saints, all the way!"

Eric laughed; not just a chuckle, but an outright laugh where the people in the other seats turned to look at us. "Not, Football, Sookie, futball…like soccer."

"Well, I didn't know that is what you were talking about." I blushed, embarrassed now. "Soccer is okay, not really my cup of tea."

"I live for futball."

"Can we please just call it soccer?" I asked.

"Where I'm from, they call it futball." He retorted.

"You're in America now though…it is kind of confusing."

He sighed dramatically. "Whatever, Sookie. I will compromise because I don't think your brain can take it."

"Hey!" I slapped his arm. "My brain can so take it! Stop being a jerk!"

He smirked, settling back in his seat. "Okay, I like _soccer _and you like football. I live for _soccer_. I'm all for Sweden's team."

"Okay…" I nodded. "I can sure remember that. Do you like animals?"

"How can we go from sports to animals?"

"Just answer the damn question, Eric." I deadpanned.

"Yes, I like animals."

"What kind?" I grinned. "I love cats."

"I'm more of a dog person, myself." He sniffed, looking at me directly, as if he was challenging me.

I sighed. "We are polar opposites." I had the urge to bang my head off of the seat in front of me.

"Polar opposites attract at times." He shrugged. "ISN will believe it, if we can get through this in one piece."

"I am still not so sure that is even possible." I shook my head, blinking slowly.

"We will." He promised. Just then, he smirked devilishly, so very…snarky. "Okay, have you had sex before?"

"Wha-?" My eyes widened, a blush ran across my face so red that I looked like a beacon flashing. I blinked, several times, as my mouth fell open and closed on its own accord.

"Well, either you haven't or just don't like to talk about your personal life." He grinned.

"I really don't think…that matters if I have or not."

"Have you?" He pushed further, quite happily I might add.

"Can we totally not talk about this?"

"It might come up, Sookie. Nowadays, people have sex before marriage and they might ask if we ever had sexual relations before marriage."

"You know, I could sue you for sexual harassment." He just chuckled, unfazed. "Yes, if you must know. I have, but…not for quite some time."

"See?" He whispered. "Was that so hard?"

"I still don't know why you wanted to know."

"Well, I was just curious." He shrugged again. "Quite honestly, I am a bit surprised at your answer. Just the way you hold yourself, the way you dress…it screams virgin."

"Thanks." I spat. "Great, now I have to think about changing my whole wardrobe…awesome."

"So," He began slowly. "Who was it with? Or was there more than one?"

"GET OFF THE SUBJECT!" I said loudly, so loudly that everyone who finally took their seats all turned in our direction again. Just wonderful…we created a scene twice in a matter of moments.

"You are a very sensitive person." Eric finally said, after a few moments of silence. "That is another thing I will have to remember."

"You think? It's bad enough I have to tell you things that I like, let alone my sex life…and I really shouldn't have. Now, you will use that against me."

"Use it against you? No, I won't. I promise." He replied.

"Sure, Eric, sure." I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "I hate you, I really do."

"Sure, Sookie, sure." He mimicked me. "If you hated me so much, then you wouldn't have agreed to do this."

"I'm just a nice person." I whispered. "I helped you because I am a nice person."

"Okay…" He trailed off.

"Okay…" I mimicked him that time.

The flight was rather peaceful after that, neither of us hardly saying anything. I guess our questionnaire had come to a hold and I was really thankful for that. I could only guess at the horrors of other questions that were running through his mind the whole time.

He had open a book, about twenty minutes away from our destination though and one that I knew very well. 'Gone with the Wind' was one of my all-time favorites. I blinked; quite astonished that he would choose that kind of genre to read about. It was a romantic novel, a civil war one.

"You, uh, enjoying that book?" I asked.

"Yes?" He shot me a look before turning his attention back to the pages. "Is there something wrong with me liking it?"

"Have you read it before?" I questioned further, turning to the side actually…intrigued.

"Multiple times." He answered, but went no further.

"It's…one of my favorites." I whispered, turning back in my own seat.

This time, Eric shut his book after putting a book marker in and set it at his side. He studied me for a moment before replying, "That is another thing I will have to remember and it is something we both like as well."

"Mmm." I murmured, twiddling with my fingers now.

We were so close to getting to Shreveport and my heart began to thunder in my chest. What would I say to my family and friends? How could I make them believe that I actually wanted to marry him? The man I always said I hated. It was hard enough coming home after quite some time, let alone bringing a tag along that I am marrying. I should have warned them, told them I was bringing someone else, but honestly, I didn't have enough courage to tell them.

I had done some stupid things in my past and one thing in particular really stuck with my Gran because she was disappointed with me at the time for what I had did, not just one thing in that situation, but two things. She warned me at first, saying I wasn't ready…and I went against her and wanted to go on with it. Then, when I was a half hour away from the biggest step in my life…I ran from it and that disappointed my Gran again, because she had finally gotten used to the idea.

It's something I don't talk about and…wouldn't want Eric to find out about. Did I really have that option though? I was sure he would find out what had happened, especially if my Gran decided to blow a gasket in front of him when I told her the 'news'.

I sighed, looking at Eric out of the corner of my eye. He seemed relaxed enough, but I knew otherwise. He was nervous about this meeting and so was I, if I wanted to be truthful here. It was just something two people don't do every day.

Well, regardless, there was no turning back now because the little light turned on to indicate that we had to buckle up because the plane was going to land soon. _Dear God…give me strength!_

I just had to stay calm; be myself…and I wanted to just relax this trip. That might not happen. I'm clearly smart enough to realize that. _Shoot myself in the face now?_ That wasn't going to work either…I didn't have a gun. I looked out the window to see the airport coming into view very quickly. My stomach tightened for a mere second before I released a breath of air I didn't know I was holding. And through that, all I could think was…

"Bon Temps, Louisiana…here we come." I muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** Hello dear readers!

Okay, I'm not very proud of this chapter, but I felt like I needed to write something. For the biggest problem, I believed there was too much dialogue going on. I would have loved to put more detail into it, but that wasn't exactly what this chapter was about. It's a filler chapter, basically. Not really important, but needed to be in there regardless.

Not the best, but it will do, for now.

I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch!

XOXO—SharaMoon

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><p><strong>Chapter four – Entering the battlefield <strong>

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><p>The plane was about to descend and I was freaking out. Not technically because of my family or any of that stuff I still had on my mind, but for the fact that my seat belt-that worked just a bit ago-didn't want to buckle anymore. My eyes grew wide as I clasped the metal parts together, but it didn't go in and kept falling apart. Okay, I tried again—<em>same deal<em>. My heart started to pound and I looked around frantically. What were the dangers of not buckling when the plane was descending? To be totally honest, I really didn't want to find out.

I made a weird whimpering sound as I stupidly tried to buckle once more, as if I kept trying it would go together. Maybe it was for the fact that my hands were shaking. I'm not too sure. The 'buckle your seatbelt' light flashing on and off—_Yeah, I would do that if I could_. And unfortunately, my vocal cords didn't want to work at that moment to call for help.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked, looking down at my lap.

I tried to buckle it again, throwing him the most terrified glance. He got the picture quickly and leaned over me. He smacked my hands out of the way, pressed two little things on the side and bam, it was buckled. I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. Any more moments spend like that and I might have ended up tumbling over the seats or something of that nature.

"You're my hero." I told him.

"I just buckled your seatbelt." Eric laughed, shaking his head. "I wasn't technically saving the world."

"How could you do that and I couldn't?"

"Do you want the snarky reply or a nicer answer to that?"

"Nicer?" It sounded more like a question.

"Your hands were shaking way before you tried to buckle." He told me, before throwing in, "Besides…you are a blond."

"I'm going to kill you. Literally chop you up into little pieces and feed you to the gators." I rolled my eyes because he just had to throw in the snarky reply as well.

"Sorry, just couldn't resist." He winked, chuckling.

"You are the spawn of the devil." I smirked, feeling rather light at the moment. He had helped me do something, even if it was as lame as just buckling my own seatbelt for me.

"Very lady like." He snorted, shaking his head.

The plane hit the runway and a few people clapped. It was a tradition, I guess. They clap because they are happy the plane landed safely. Sort of morbid in my opinion, but whom was I to tamper on their excitement?

I stood up when we were finally able to do so and reached up to grab my bag. On accident—and truly it was just that—my bag slapped Eric in the face. I had a glass owl in that bag for Gran. I had seen it in a store and since owls were her favorite, I bought it for her. I frantically put down my bag on the chair and began to search for it.

"Um, ouch?" Eric held his left eye.

I spared him a glace. "God, I hope your face didn't break it! I paid a fortune for it!"

"Yeah, hopefully _my face_ didn't break whatever it is that you are talking about. I mean, it would be the _end _of the _world_ if that happened. Don't worry about my eye, or the fact that I can't _see_ out of it." Eric grumbled, ripping his own bag down.

"Ah-ha!" I cheered in victory, pulling out the object and showing it to him. "Huh, guess your head wasn't as hard as I thought it was."

I looked up in time to see Eric blink. His eye was blood shot, and he was squinting. I almost felt bad….almost.

"You were worried about a glass owl?" He eyed me. "_Seriously_?"

"_Obviously_! My Gran loves them."

He grabbed it from my hand, holding it up to his face closely. "Well, it's not that cute…if that is what you thought and the reason you bought it. I mean, I can hardly _see_ it though. I could be wrong."

I smirked, hiding my chuckle with a cough. "Uh, sorry about your eye….I'll get ice for it when we get home."

"Home?" He raised an eyebrow.

I blushed. "Uh, my Gran's house. That is what I meant."

"Sure, Sookie." He sighed. "Great, we're trying to make a good impression, but I come there with a black eye? I'm pretty sure that is going to wave some red flags."

"I'll tell them exactly what happened." I promised.

"What? You're glass owl attacked my face?"

I laughed. "That is exactly how I'm going to say it too."

"You're sometimes insufferable."

"Likewise."

We headed down to the front doors after retrieving our bags. Eric's was huge, and when I say huge, I mean that he over stuffed it; probably paid a fortune too, because that totally exceeded the weight limit. I shook my head, grabbing my own little suit case in hand. I looked up at Eric as we walked outside. He was still blinking weird from where my bag hit his face, and I bit my lip. I did feel really bad.

"Hey," I called over the car he had rented. "I'm really sorry about your eye, and I do mean that."

He paused for a moment with his door open. His eyes met mine, the messed up one slightly twitching before he answered. "Yeah, don't worry about it. It's alright."

After that he got into the car. I blinked stupidly, following suit.

He was still able to drive, or that is what he told me on our way out. I told him which way to go before I grew silent. I was still stuck on his answer after I apologized. He—he didn't say anything snarky. He actually accepted my apology in a rather…civil way. That was just…really weird.

"Hey," I whispered, looking over in his direction.

"Hmm?" He turned after I pointed out the road.

"Did that owl and my bag hit you so hard that it shifted your brain or something?"

Eric looked at me quickly, giving me a rather concerned look as to what I just said. "Excuse me?"

"Did it?"

"I don't believe that is possible, Sookie." He shook his head.

"It has to be." I argued.

Eric sighed, rolling his eyes. He turned to look at me. "And why would that have to be?"

"Because, you accepted my apology—"

"And?" He cut me off.

"—you accepted it_ nicely_." I finished.

"Well," He chuckled. "I guess I did. Surprising, right?"

"Quite." I agreed.

Everything became quiet after that and I enjoyed it mostly. I was almost able to relax, and just think of what I needed to tell my family and friends. We have about a half hour before we made it to Bon Temps, and that would give me enough time for that, and also tell Eric a bit about my family.

I looked at him slightly before turning my attention out the window. This was a long shot. I knew that. We haven't talked about much of anything, therefore we would each need to lie and then go with those lies the best we could while we were here; if we wanted to make this all work. I would also have to let him touch me, and I would have to touch him.

My Gran—she was old fashioned; but started to get with the times. Therefore, I was sure we would be allowed to sleep in the same room—my old room. If I didn't just act like that would be normal procedure between Eric and me, then I was sure Gran would think it was odd. I was to be 'engaged' to Eric, and if I didn't do little things, she would catch on. Gran was a smart cookie, the smartest woman I know, and therefore, I would have to lie and lie _good_.

I gulped, ringing my hands together slowly. I was nervous again, but at the same time I was excited. I was seeing my family for the first time in so long. I couldn't let anything ruin that, even this scheme Eric had cooked up.

I had to just stay calm, though I knew that was going to be nearly impossible. I had trouble…in this area before. My Gran was not going to be happy, she would ask me a million questions, and ones I wasn't sure if I could even answer without breaking down and telling her the truth. But I couldn't do that. I had to go on with this lie, and lie to my family. How horrible is that? Lying to the people I truly love, all to save my boss's ass? There was just something wrong with that picture.

"Well, there is something you don't see every day." Eric pointed out the windshield and I followed his gaze.

In front of us was a guy on a rather old looking tractor. He had a farmers hat on, driving on the side of the road in front of us. He was slightly off of the road, meaning that Eric could surely pass the man, but I think Eric didn't quite understand that he could pass.

I laughed wildly. "Welcome to Louisiana, Eric Northman."

"They ride tractors all the time?" He raised an eyebrow. "There are farms here?"

"Well, there are tractor riders, like that redneck up there and there are big farms, but not very many around where I lived." I smiled. "My Gran has a farm house, farm land. We have a few animals and a few fruits and vegetables, but not enough to take to a farmers market, or anything like that. It's just for our family and a few friends. I guess it's one of many of my Gran's many hobbies."

"You live on a _farm_?"

"Did you not just hear what I said?" I sighed. "It's a hobby. Gran has a few animals, fruits, and vegetables, but not as much as a big farm would have."

"I see…"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Nope," He shook his head. "What kind of animals?"

"We have two cows, quite a few chickens, two dogs, like five cats, and a pig."

"A pig?" He smirked. "Just one? I thought there would be more."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, wouldn't you kill it to get the meat?"

I gasped. "Henry is a part of the family, Eric!"

"Oh my God, you seriously named the pig Henry?" He was laughing now, so much that the car slightly swerved in the lane.

"Yes, I did!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I couldn't ever kill Henry…"

His laugh slowed to a slight chuckle every now and again. "Henry…" He chuckled once more, clearing his throat. "Okay, so you have animals, fruits and vegetables. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing like that." I shook my head.

"Okay."

"Oh! Wait!" I pondered. "We did have a gator living out back in the pond a few hundred feet in the woods behind the house. His name was George. I don't know if he is still there. We found him one year, just swimming around back there."

"Sookie, you name animals weird." He smirked. "Remind me to stay away from the pond, regardless if the alligator is gone or not."

"Alright…" I agreed.

"You said you had a brother, correct? Any other siblings?"

I shook my head. "Not technically, but Tara Thornton is like a sister to me. She's even lived with us for a while when we were younger. I wouldn't be surprised if she was there for the welcome home party."

"Welcome home party?" He growled, shifting to glare at me heavily.

"Oh, forgot to mention that, huh?" I shrunk in my seat.

"You think?" He scratched his head, finally moving around the tractor and sped down the road.

"Well, this has been an interesting conversation." I changed the subject quickly. "My brother works for the road construction; building and fixing roads, Tara owns her own store, Sam owns his own bar, and Gran founded a club called: 'Descendants of the Glorious Dead'. They talk about the Civil War most of the time. All the other people that will be at the house, I'll tell you specific things if they talk with us."

I told him this quickly, we were edging toward closer to the unpaved, hidden driveway. My heart began to race in my chest as I pointed him down the right direction, on Hummingbird road. I bit my lip when the trees cleared and I looked at how many cars was there—practically the whole town. Oh, that wasn't good.

This was going to be a miss or hit chance, and we had to make a good scene if we wanted this to work. First impressions were always key with my family, and looking at Eric, I didn't think he could pull that off.

"Is the whole fucking town here?" Eric said, gripping the wheel tighter.

"Don't worry, just follow my lead. Laugh when I do. Be all lovey dovey and that crap. Uh, be nice to everyone. Just totally act like a different person than you normally are."

"Funny, Sookie." Eric scoffed harshly. He was nervous now, I could tell, but he was hiding it well.

"Not trying to be funny." I told him, patting his shoulder. "I'm telling you what you need to do to survive."

"You sound like we are heading into a war zone."

I laughed humorlessly. The car finally pulled to a stop. "Hey, this_ is_ war." I looked at him. "And if you want to survive, you follow my lead. I'll fill you in when we get a chance to be alone, whenever that is possible. Make up lies, and I will follow them, if that is needed."

"Awe, shit….I didn't pack my military supplies." He joked harshly.

"This," I motioned to the house with both of my hands, "Is our battlefield. This is our mission."

"Yes, ma'am," Eric saluted lamely. He sighed, turning to look at me now. "Listen, relax. Take it easy. With the way you are acting, they will know something is up. Stop being…_crazy_."

"Thanks for the support." I cleared my throat and put my hand on the door handle.

This was it, now or never. I gulped one last time, closed my eyes, and pushed the door open. I stepped out, and looked up at my childhood home in somewhat akin to utter dread.

Yep, I was sure I wouldn't survive as soon as Gran stepped out on the porch. Her bright smile began to fade when she noticed I brought a guest. Oh, it was only going to get so much worse when she knew exactly why my 'guest' was with me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** It has been far too long.

Sorry about the delay, but I had troubles with my laptop. It crashed, and I lost everything. I'm not going to ramble on about everything, but I do hope you forgive me, and I do hope I still have readers. :)

Now that is over and done with—Hello! I've missed you all! :P

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post two chapters to this as I would have liked, like the others, but this one came out pretty long, right? ;)

I won't take up your time, so go on and read—if anyone is left that is. Lol!

I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch!

XOXO-SharaMoon

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><p><strong>Chapter five - Bad person<strong>

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><p>"She hates me." Eric's voice filtered in my left ear, his warm breath tickling it. I jumped a millimeter away from him, turning around to pin him with a glare that meant business—<em>not<em> to creep up on me like that. "Have you seen the way she has been giving me the death glare?"

I sighed, putting down the spoon and opting for my fingers to reach in the fruit bowl, and grab myself a grape.

Unsanitary?

Most likely.

Did I give a shit?

Nope.

"It's not like I haven't felt her eyes following our every move, Eric." I replied, turning around and leaned against the table. "But, she doesn't know who you are. I doubt that she hates you, but I can't say the same for me."

I looked down at the grass before my eyes flew up to the sky. I took in a shaky breath, and slowly let it out. I felt a stinging in my eyes, but that stopped so suddenly as Eric's hand came down on my side, his other fingers finding their way to my chin, and forcing me to look at him.

"Whatever melt down you are about to have—stop. We really don't need the waterworks to start flowing, because then, our cover would be totally blown."

"You are a heartless bastard." I mumbled with a shake of my head, and a roll of my eyes.

"No." Eric whispered flatly. "I'm not being heartless, Sookie, I'm being _smart_."

"Says the guy with the really big, fat head," I growled, turning back around and grabbing for another grape. "You know how hard this is on me. I should have told her. I should have warned her firsthand before I brought your ass along."

"Why didn't you?" He said in a rather soft way.

It creeped me out.

"And how was I supposed to tell her? What would I even say? Or even where to begin with that conversation?" I chewed on my bottom lip, ducking my head down slightly. "I'm walking on very thin ice, and I thought that maybe if I treaded lightly, I wouldn't fall through."

"When in reality," He stopped to think for a moment, "the ice was already cracked to begin with, and you found yourself falling into the icy water below?" He chuckled. "That's got to be the gayest thing I have said all year so far."

"Funny," I scolded hotly. "But yes, that is exactly how I feel right now."

Eric sighed heavily. "Just relax, Sookie. We'll get through this, and then we'll go back to New York after everything is said and done, and nothing has to change."

"You can bet your ass things will have to change."

"How so?"

I turned around to look at him again, this time fully.

"You can't just think that we will get this over with and then we can go back to our lives like nothing ever happened; that nothing ever changed." I huffed. "Eric, they keep tabs on people. If we aren't living together, doing all that relationship crap, they won't buy into it. They will know we are frauds, and then that would totally suck, because I would rather not go to jail over this."

"Move in? Into my apartment?"

"Sorry, I guess you didn't think that far ahead did you?" I chuckled for the first time. "Yes, Mr. Northman, you will be getting a roomie as soon as we touch down in New York after this whole fiasco."

For a moment there, I thought he was going to die. He stopped breathing, or it looked like he did. I waited for him to just kill over, so I didn't have to go through with it anymore, but that didn't happen. He took a deep breath through his nose, and let it out of his mouth slowly.

"Yeah, I guess we will have to move in together…" Oh, I could feel the anger snapping at me from where he stood. The anger in his tone could set the surrounding area around us on fire.

"And…I won't be paying any bills!" I smirked. "The life of a wife!"

"You think that just because you will be technically married to me, that I won't make you pay some of the bills?" He laughed this time. "Dear girl, you _must_ be crazy."

I raised an eyebrow. "If you want me to continue with this lie, then the 'no bills' will be included."

"I thought we already negotiated?"

"Well that's the beauty of having time to think about things, and the one offering the help…" Giggling, I continued, "I have all the time in the world to come up with other things that you just have to give to me, to keep me doing this."

"You know, when you said that I was the spawn of the devil, I think you got that wrong." He glared. "You definitely are worse than me."

"Hey, so you did hear me call you that!"

Just then, Eric leaned forward, smiling a breathtaking smile and one that I had not planned on ever seeing. He bent so far that his lips came in contact with my cheek, and I froze.

What the hell…?

"Sookie, it's so nice to see that you are back in town!" A woman's voice came from my left side.

I turned away from Eric's lips, trying to put some distance between us, and my eyes met Maxine Fortenberry. I mentally groaned out in dissatisfaction.

"So, this must be the man that everyone is talking about around here!" Her eyes darted to Eric, and a huge smile broke across her face. Her lipstick cracked slightly as she did. "Now, who must you be? Sookie's man? That is quite lovely; she hasn't dated in a few years, from what I noticed. Since…"

"Maxine!" I jumped in before she could finish that sentence. I grabbed her around the shoulders and brought her into my chest tightly, hugging her close. "It is so good to see you. How is Hoyt?"

"He is doing just fine. He's getting off work and coming over here with your brother in just a few minutes. Just talked to him on my cellphone." She held up the device. "I don't know why I never got one of these things before. They must be the best invention in the history—"

"That's great, Maxine." I cut her off, turning to Eric. "This is Eric, he's my…my…"

My eyes fell behind Maxine's head to see Gran standing not too far off. She held up her right hand, curled her fingers, and beckoned to be. My stomach dropped, my heart seemed to falter, and I had the sensation to run far, far away. She didn't look too thrilled with me.

"Sookie…?" Eric asked, snapping me back into reality.

"Um, G-Gran is calling for me. You, uh, you stay here while I go see what she wants."

"Of course," He said in a too cheery tone. "I'll just man the fruit bowl while you are gone."

"Talk to Maxine, but don't say anything yet." I whispered in his ear as I leaned up to kiss his cheek for a cover up.

"Talk to this loon? Are you serious?" His deadpan voice almost made me feel bad for him. I knew how Maxine could be.

"Have fun." I said, after the momentary kindness wore off.

And I darted away before he could grab ahold of me.

But as soon as I edged closer to my usually loving Gran, I slowed my pace quite a bit. I felt like I was doing the walk of shame, like I had got my hand caught in the cookie jar, and all the other quotes that would fit into this situation.

She turned on her heel as I edged closer, and began walking further in the backyard. She had a destination in mind, and when I saw where we were going I groaned a bit. Gran was heading to the wooden bench swing. It is where we always had our serious conversations, and that alone left me tittering to the edge of a high cliff. Oh, she was beyond upset.

I looked down at my feet as I walked, and didn't notice I had come close to the swing before I ran into it. My face, my nose smashed against the wood in one strong bang. I toppled to the side, gripping my nose tightly in my right hand. My feet curled in my shoes, my eyes watered, and I kept murmuring 'owww' in a nasally way.

My ears picked up on a laughing, something I wasn't quite expecting in the mix of things. Peering over, through watering eyes, Gran slapped her knee as she erupted into a giggle fit. I almost smirked, thinking my clumsiness saved me from probably the worst conversation I would ever have with her.

"Nice going, Sookie dear." She shook her head.

And then the air around us seemed to shimmer, as the laughing was replaced with an eerily, and chilly silence. The spark in her eyes died so quickly that I shrunk back, waiting on the wrath that was hiding just below the surface. Who ever thought my Gran could look this freaking scary? Obviously not this girl.

My clumsiness didn't help shit.

Gran walked to the swing and sat down. All too quickly her hand came down and patted the seat next to her—more than patting, it was like two big slams in my ears, like the nails on the coffin. My eyes twitched. She patted them again, this time, a little bit stronger. I didn't wait any longer, as I practically jumped on the swing next to her. I didn't want to find out what happened if she had to pat that damn seat for a third time.

Her arm snaked around my shoulders, and I cringed as she spoke, "Sookie, it would have been really wonderful to tell me that you were bringing a guest. I mean, it isn't that hard to pick up a phone, you know."

"Well, I—"

Her arm tightened around my shoulders, her fingers overlapping and patting my left. Her words were sarcastic.

"And I would have loved to hear that you were bringing a man with you—"

"Er, well, you see—"

"And it would have been a great heads up, if you told me that it was your boss, the man you supposedly hate—"

"Gran—" I nearly begged.

"Or the fact that, I believe, you are dating him, with the way you are acting all lovey dovey with one another—"

"Gran, I'm getting married!" I yelled over her.

_Oh God….Oh God…Oh God! No-o-o-o!_

I did not mean to say that. It slipped out of my mouth before I could filter my own thoughts. I had been trying to find a way to work up to it, and then that happened. I just…let it fall from my mouth because I couldn't keep my trap shut and think of a logical way to bring it forth. Yeah, this isn't good—actually this is very, very bad.

The silence was deafening. My heart pounded up into my throat, lodging itself in there, making me unable to bring forth the effort to breathe. My eyes widened as my head slowly cranked itself around to the side to take in her emotions. The problem was that there were no emotions on her face, to even start to figure out how she was taking what I just said. She was blank, she was still, and she did not even blink.

A few minutes ticked away. I sat in horror, unable to form anymore words, which would have been wonderful at this time. It would have been great to explain myself, why I was just telling her now, out of nowhere—throwing a curveball at her, and practically hitting her square in the face with it.

"I think I may need a hearing aid, because I don't believe I heard you correctly." Her voice was emotionless, as she turned to meet my eyes.

"Uh," I paused. The damage was done. I might as well just go with it. "I am, Gran. I'm getting married."

"To the man that you brought with you? Your boss?"

"How—how did you even know that was him?"

"I read up on things. He's not hard to miss in the pictures." She practically rolled her eyes. "I can't believe that you are telling me this right now, Sookie. I thought you hated this man."

"Well, you told me once that I should try to get along with him, that everyone has a good side."

"I didn't actually think you would." Gran shook her head, sighing heavily. "Be serious, for just one second. You are telling me that you got over all that anger toward him? That you somehow 'fell in love' with the man you told me, not so long ago, that you despised?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes."

"Sookie, you don't have a very good track record with commitment. The last time something like this happened, I told you, you shouldn't go through with getting married because you were seventeen—had your whole life ahead of you—and you fought me tooth and nail. Finally, I let in, and gave you my blessing, and you were the one that ran away—_a runaway bride_, Sookie Stackhouse! That is what you were. You ran off to New York, where you went to school, and got your job." She paused before continuing. "Though I was angry at you for not deciding that in the first place, I couldn't really be angry with you. I thought you did what was best for you. But here you are now, not so many years later, and you want to give yourself away to a different man?"

"Gran, it's different now." I choked out, trying to clear my mind from her words, which still cut me deeply.

"How so?"

"I'm older now, not by much, but…I am. And, I lo—" _Come on words! Don't fail me now! _"I love him, _truly_."

That was so bitter on my lips.

"You really believe that I will give you by blessing because you believe you love him? Sookie, that is what you said about the last one, and you were with him almost throughout your high school years."

"I was young then, Gran. Please, just…just understand—"

"You are making it very, very difficult for me to understand, Sookie." She cut me off. Her voice hard when she said the next words; "When, Sookie? When did you plan on getting married?"

"This weekend," I mumbled through my horror.

"I see." She said through her teeth, biting back a very good retort that I knew was on the tip of her tongue.

Tears stung my eyes, and they began to brim. I blinked, trying to make them disappear but they wouldn't go away so easily. I took a deep breath, only for it to get hitched in the back of my throat. I made a sobbing sound, as the tears finally broke free and slid down my cheeks.

The weight of this stupid scheme finally weighed my shoulders down too much. The intense lying made me feel sick, and the fact that my Gran was so, so upset with me was starting to kill me slowly.

"Sookie…?" Gran's voice was much softer now, her strong grip around my shoulders lessened.

I felt so horrible. I _was_ a horrible person, because I was going to use the tears and my cries for my advantage. I was going to lie even more to the woman that raised me since I was little.

"I just want…you to be happy for me." I sobbed out, my head falling into my hands.

_I am going to Hell…_

_I deserve to die…_

_I should be run over by a Mac truck…_

_Eaten alive by sharks…_

_Or some strange combination of the two. _

"You are really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes." I lied through my teeth.

Silence met me again, but not as long this time.

"I am not happy about this. I cannot lie about that, but if this means so much to you, then I will give you my blessing. But," She paused again, her voice slightly rising as she spoke, "if you run from this one, then I will paint your back porch red. So help me God, Sookie Stackhouse, I will do it! Are we clear?"

"Crystal." I croaked out.

"Alright," She pinned me with a glare, a heavy one. "Enough with the interrogation for now. We have to get back to the party before any neighbors or friends start to wonder what is going on."

"And we wouldn't want that." I smirked slightly, putting on a show. I felt so horrible inside.

"We would be the talk of the town," She said in mock horror, "It's something we could definitely do without."

"I think we are already lined up for it, Gran. There's no helping it when people take one look at Eric."

"Well, he is very handsome, isn't he? Sexy even," She mused; patting my shoulder as she walked passed me.

I blinked fast for a moment, stunned that Gran would come out and be that open that she thought Eric looked good. Seems like I missed a lot while away. With a shake of my head, I began walking back to her side, catching up to her with ease.

It became slightly more peaceful, and the nervousness began to fade. I got past a big hurdle in just a few short minutes, and that had to be a record—a cause for celebration. And I intended to celebrate with my go to drink—gin and tonic. Not just one, but several. Possibly getting drunk off my ass, and feigning away my dread of the lies I told in just those few short minutes.

But as I looked at Eric, and smiled—silently telling him that we were on somewhat level ground with my family, Gran began to muse again, but in a more serious tone than the 'sexy' comment.

"Well, I do hope that you invited Eric's side of the family for this marriage. And I really hope that you have told them beforehand, unlike you did with me, young lady."

My eyes twitched almost painfully. I watched Eric's brows furrow at my now frozen stature, my rigid formation. If I wanted to guess, he was feeling the horror that just had to be written on my face. I wondered for a moment, what he thought was wrong with me.

To be honest, I never thought about Eric's family. I talked to his mom more than he did, so I believed I knew her better than her own son did. But that wasn't the problem. His parents, I figured, were very proper people. And I doubted they would be as calm with this then Gran had been—and Gran even took it horribly.

I was up shit creek without a paddle.

As normal as I possibly could, I walked numbly back over to Eric, and grabbed his hand in my own. With a tug—not very gentle—I pulled him through the house, up the stairs, and to my bedroom.

It had been a simple task, since I needed somewhere to talk to him about what Gran had just said, but since I hadn't been here in so long, I forgot that my room wasn't so…_adult-ish_.

I opened the door, my eyes went wide, and I spun on my heel, and slammed the door shut. Eric's brows rose in question, and all I could do was laugh. Not just a laugh but a very creepy, nervous, and embarrassed laugh.

"You brought me all the way up here to open a door, only to slam it? Do you have obsessive compulsive disorder or something of that nature?" Eric asked; a smirk very evident on his face.

"Uh, no," There was that creepy laugh again. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "I haven't been home in a long time, and Gran….well, she never wanted to change my room after I left. So, it's kinda—"

"Pink?" He said, pushing me out of the way, and opened the door quicker than shit.

"You just pushed me!"

"Because you weren't making any sense." He mumbled, stepping into my room.

It was the oddest picture in the entire world. Eric Northman—my boss and fake fiancé—standing in my very pink room, in a very expensive suit.

I _was_ embarrassed, because my room was like a teenage paradise. There were a million boy band posters hanging on the walls, with hearts around the guys I used to think was hot in permanent red marker. Stuffed animals made a line against the wall on my bed—most of them won from my ex-fiancé over the four years we were together, from different events that happened in town. The bed sheets, pillow covers, and blanket were a cheesy flower pattern in pink and yellow. Old make-up and hair care products were lined up on my white vanity. And a picture of my ex-fiancé and myself were also sitting on the vanity.

My eyes widened as I practically jumped through the air, leaping toward the vanity in the nick of time. Eric hadn't turned around, and I grabbed the photo in my hands and threw it into the closet where I heard it break on something. My closet was very messy, with a bunch of boxes and everything else inside. I doubted I would ever find all the small fragments of glass—shit. But I didn't think about that as I shot Eric a tight, closed mouth smile, and shut my closet door.

"What did you just throw in there?"

"Nothing." I shrugged.

"…Sookie?" Eric shook his head, rolled his eyes and then sighed. "You have…uh, childish taste."

I rolled my eyes this time. "I told you that I haven't really been here since I moved to New York."

"I see. Well, that's…" He chuckled. "It's _cute_, Sookie."

"Excuse me?"

"The room," He clarified. "It's actually quite cute."

"Thank you?"

Confusion colored my voice, but I didn't think too much over it. We had a lot more to talk about, and it needed to be now. I walked over to my bed, and sat on the stiff sheets. They sort of smelled of dust, obviously no one used it in a really long time, including me. It kind of sucked coming back here since I was sitting on the bed where I had sex with the ex, a few nights before I left him at the altar.

It was something I never wanted to bring up again, but I could never help it. My mind drifted to that, and then I always felt sick inside. I felt _guilty_ sometimes.

"My Gran asked if we told your parents," I said, finally able to get passed the memories.

"And?" Eric asked as he sat down at my vanity.

I slightly lost focus on the major problem as I watched Eric picking up my old things. He opened a jewelry box lying next to the make-up, and brought out a pearl necklace. He fingered it in his hands, letting the pearls run back and forth through his big fingers, he smirked, totally unaware that I was watching him.

And what was crazy was for the fact that I found myself smiling fondly over them.

"That—" I had to clear my throat from the sudden wave of sadness I felt.

"Hmm?" He turned to look at me.

"That was my mother's necklace. I got it after—after she passed away." I explained. "I nearly forgot all about them. I should take them back to New York with me. That way, I have a little piece of her with me always."

"You should." He said lightly, catching me off guard. "They are real, by the way. I wasn't sure if you knew, but they are."

"My dad spoiled my mom a lot." I chuckled. "He didn't have a lot of money, but he saved a portion of what was left over after all the bills were paid, after Jason and I had everything we needed every month, and then would buy her something special."

"He seems like a very loving man, _thoughtful_." Eric whispered, his eyes tightening slightly. "My father is not like that."

My mind snapped back to the bigger picture at hand. "Speaking of your parents, Eric, we need to tell them, and invite them to the wedding?"

Eric's head snapped up and met my gaze. The necklace was placed down nice and gently, but his hands were slightly twitching. "Excuse me?"

"Your parents—we need to invite them. They need to know as well, just in case the ISN guys call them too."

"No," His voice rose, and he stood tall. "I really don't believe that is a good idea. You see, my father, he isn't a nice guy."

I rolled my eyes. "Looks like you take after him then?" I tried to joke. It wasn't meant to be taken so seriously.

Eric glared at me, his face contorting in what I would classify as pure hatred. "I am nothing like my father. He is a proud, rich, arrogant asshole that hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't—" I started in softly only to be cut off.

"Oh, you can bet he does, Sookie. He hates the fact that I came to the United States for my career and work my way up the chain, where I could be my own person, rather under his control at his own company. And also for the fact that I wouldn't marry a daughter of a promising business partner, so the father of the woman would feel comfortable enough to merge his company with my father's. I rejected the asinine request, and he didn't take it very well."

"Eric, we _have_ to. It's the only way this will work." I whispered. "I really, really don't want to go to jail over the family problems you have." I paused. "That sounded really bad…"

Eric shook his head. "Whatever, Sookie. Fine. We will give my folks a ring, and see how well my father takes this news. Oh, I'm most sure they will come, especially my father, so he can be critical of my life." He said sarcastically. "Are you prepared for the onslaught of hate my father will have for you—the woman that I picked instead of the woman he chose for me?"

I sat stunned at the strong, stinging tone of his voice. He was truly upset about having to invite his family. But what had me more 'weirded out' was the phrase he used: _The woman that I picked_. Was that how he truly felt? He didn't say it in a bad way. It was just an outright statement on his part. He probably said it without really thinking about it.

"Yes," I told him strongly. "We are doing this for one reason. We are going to keep you in the United States, and I promised I would help no matter what. I can take your father's comments, whatever they will be, because they won't even touch me. You wanna know why?" I paused, but he didn't say anything. I continued, "Because it's all a lie to begin with. You don't love me, and I don't love you. His words can't hurt, because of that and that alone."

Eric's shoulders sagged slightly, and he nodded once. "Just be prepared. He can get really…_bad_ at times."

"Nothing I can't handle." I smirked. "Trust me. I've had experience from you. I can take anything." I joked again, because I knew the steam had gone down, the storm had passed.

Finally, Eric chuckled. "Just wait—_just wait_. You will be thanking me for how truly _nice_ I have been, when you get a load of my father."


End file.
